Group performance earns first at History Fair

Students perform a skit for the History Fair. The group took first place honors and will move on to State. Photo Submitted

The History Fair took place on Friday, February 24 and Advanced Placement World History students Devin Johnson-Gray, Ca’Rinthya Johnson, Nova Burke, and Morgan Kendrick were ready, taking first place in their category.

They did a group performance based on the book, “History of the World and Six Glasses,” by Tom Standage. They had read the book as part of a summer assignment for the AP class.

From there, the students came together and completed research in the library. “We even searched encyclopedias to make sure our information was accurate,” Johnson-Gray said.

In addition to research, they did plenty of brainstorming. “We all had sticky notes and scratch paper to write our individual ideas on,” Johnson said. This was said to be the, “foundation of the project.”

Though the project sounds easy, it was time-consuming for all involved. From brainstorming, to planning, interviews, and research, the estimated time it took to pull it together was three months. They built a set for the performance as well. “Morgan’s [Kendrick] dad supplied money to build the set, and her grandma helped with the talking,” Johnson-Gray said.

Other than that, they said their greatest asset was the library, which provided access to the technology and sources need.

“These students really did everything on their own,” sponsor Stacy Moser said. “I love sponsoring the students and creating a love for all things history.”

The students were excited to hear they had won.

“The best part was hearing the judges tell us that we won first place,” Burke said. They all said they were excited, but agreed the hardest part was the research and getting everything organized. “We learned how important it was to communicate and work with each other to finish this project,” Kendrick said.

For winning first place, the group will move on to Tallahassee next month for the State History Fair. They will be performing the same skit, except they will be allowed to make improvements on their skit, based on judges comments they received back.